Between Fate and Blood
A heavy silence hung in the air.
The battlefield, once drenched in the screams of the dying, now trembled under Ravihiro's breath.
His fingers tightened around Rumina's throat.
Her vision blurred.
"Ravihiro... stop..." she choked out.
But he only smiled.
SHING!
Before anyone could react-
A flash of steel.
A new challenger entered the battlefield.
CLANG!
A blade collided with Ravihiro's arm, forcing him back.
The one who struck-
Rudra.
His eyes burned with determination, his sword trembling in his grip.
"I don't know who you are anymore... but I can't let you hurt anyone else!"
Silence.
Then-
НЕНЕНЕНЕНЕ...
Ravihiro laughed.
Low, deep, inhuman.
"Oh...? You?"
His body twitched, and in the next instant-
SHING!
He vanished.
BOOM!
A shockwave erupted as Ravihiro reappeared behind Rudra, his blade whistling through the air.
CLANG!
Rudra barely blocked in time, his arms trembling under the force.
Swish! Swish! CRACK!
The two clashed in a storm of steel and sparks, the ground shattering beneath their every move.
But it wasn't a battle.
It was a massacre.
Rudra couldn't keep up.
SLASH!
SLASH!
A deep gash split his shoulder.
SLASH!
Blood sprayed from his leg.
SLASH!
A cut across his chest.
"Aaaaagh!" Rudra gasped, stumbling backward.
Ravihiro licked the blood off his blade.
"You're weak."
Then-
He lunged for the kill
BUT-
BOOM!
A colossal pressure crashed down onto the battlefield.
Ravihiro froze mid-attack.
The Sect Leader stepped forward, his eyes dark and filled with a terrifying presence.
"Enough, Ravihiro."
SEALING FORMATION: ON!
Golden chains burst from the ground, wrapping around Ravihiro.
He roared, struggled, but the suppression was too powerful.
"Ravihiro, come back to your senses!" the Sect Leader commanded.
For a moment-
His eyes flickered.
His breathing hitched.
Then-
"NO!"
A massive burst of energy exploded, sending everyone flying back.
Ravihiro stood in the center-
But something was wrong.
His mask...
Was cracking.
"ΚΗ... ΚΗΗ... WHY...?"
His body twitched uncontrollably, like a puppet whose strings were being cut.
CRACK!
A piece of the mask shattered.
CRACK!
BOOM!
Another piece fell away.
His body convulsed.
"What... is happening... TO ΜΕ?!"
CRACK!
BOOM!
The mask shattered completely.
And then-Everything went dark.
The body toppled.
Ravihiro-
Unconscious.
Ravihiro-
Unconscious.
The battlefield stood still.
The tension remained.
His parents, still in shock, couldn't believe what they had witnessed.
This was not the son they remembered.
This was a monster.
The Sect Leader looked down at Ravihiro's unconscious form.
And in a voice barely above a whisper, he muttered-
"This isn't over."
,